Islamic State killed an American journalist & ongoing air strikes in Iraq

American photojournalist James Foley, who was kidnapped two years ago and then killed the other day by IS — Associated Press photo via the NY Times

Horrific news out of the Middle East yesterday with the news that American Photojournalist James Foley was beheaded by the men with the Islamic State.

The news first started to filter out mid-day on Tuesday on Twitter as several journalists began to tweet about it. It wasn’t until today that the White House and the DOD confirmed that the graphic video (which I have seen and will not post or link to) is real. I guess if we ever need to make one of those newsreels from the World War II era, “Why we fight,” this could be used as a reason. Absolutely terrible and one might argue this is a war crime. A journalist, an independent observer should not be treated as a combatant. From the NY Times story:

“The U.S. intelligence community has analyzed the recently released video showing U.S. citizens James Foley and Steven Sotloff,” Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement released on Wednesday. “We have reached the judgment that this video is authentic.”

A bigger question than the tragic, senseless and unnecessary death of a journalist is that it shows that IS, formerly ISIS and ISIL, isn’t afraid of going after American targets. Could this be a precursor to the terrorist group seeking to expand its fight against those it deems as heathens. The recent announcement of al Qaeda in Yemen siding openly with IS could be seen as a shift. Could IS be thinking that they are going to clash with the United States at some point so they might as well take the offensive? Could this signal a possible rash of domestic incidents or would it be confined to those caught in the Middle East?

This all comes in the wake of the ongoing air strikes by the United States against IS forces in Northern Iraq near the Mosul Dam as well as in Kurdistan. Remember, the air strikes started first as a way to protect a minority sect of Iraqis who were fleeing the Islamic State. Then it was to protect American assets in Irbil and in Kurdistan. Then it was to help Iraqi and Kurdish forces retake the dam.

“The administration can call it whatever they want, but semantics aside, they’re now waging war,” said Stephen Biddle, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University.

Author: Andy Kravetz

Andy Kravetz has spent most of the past 16 years covering the area's legal system as well as the military. in that time, he's crawled in the mud, flown in transport planes, and written about a man prosecuted for terrorism. This blog will reflect all those interests and then some.
View all posts by Andy Kravetz